One Month at a Time
by Caithrine Glidewell
Summary: Peter finds out in the strangest of ways that Olivia is pregnant. Now the next nine months ahead of them are full of the unknown. Written one month at a time.
1. Chapter 1

Peter walked into the lab and saw Walter and… Bell on the ground floor working on some kind of research.

Walter heard the door close and looked up to see Peter, "Oh, Peter you're back!"

"Yes Walter. Where's Astrid?" He asked, putting his hands on the railing and looking around the lab.

"She went to get some strawberry ice cream. I convinced her that I would be just fine here with Belly," Walter said enthusiastically. Despite Bell actually being sane and in the body of the woman he trusted more than anything, he still was not pleased about the prospect of the two of them left alone in the lab. The last time that had happened, they had experimented on dozens of innocent college students.

"Alright Walter, I'll be in my office if you need me."

Peter was settled into his office in the lab, searching through files of their previous cases, trying to find some connection to the tears in their universe and the now present machine, trying to see if its presence was accelerating the decay of their universe.

There was a knock at the door and Peter's head snapped up, "Come in."

The door opened slowly and he saw Olivia, well Bell, come in and close the door behind her… him, "Hello Peter. I need to talk to you about something."

Peter sighed and rubbed his eyes, "No offense, Dr. Bell, but unless this has something to do with you getting out of my girlfriend, I'm not interested in listening right now."

"Peter, I know you are not particularly fond of me, but this is something important. Something about Olivia that I must tell you, because she wont remember when she wakes up," Bell told him, standing politely near the back wall of the office.

"Wakes up?" Peter snapped in disbelief, "That's what you're going to called it?"

"Peter, focus," William snapped back. Peter didn't like hearing him speak that way in Olivia's, off-cadenced voice, it reminded him that Bell had, even if only temporarily, taken her away from him again, "What I am going to tell you is important… I am sorry that I must tell you this myself instead of letting Olivia tell you, but currently, I have no choice. I believe Olivia may be pregnant."

Peter's face dropped blank, "She-she's…"

"Yes Peter, and I promise that due to this… development, I will attempt to find a suitable host as soon as possible," Peter ground his teeth at the word 'development,' but kept his mouth shut, "Why this is something I needed to tell you is because it could be… hazardous. A child from two universes, with two universal energies, it could cause problems, an… imbalance."

Peter was confused, "But if the child has energies from both worlds, wouldn't that make up for the child not existing in both worlds?"

"No, because the child will carry the energy of one universe more than the other, depending on the child's gender. If it is a girl, it will weight heavier towards your world, while if it were a boy, it would be biased towards our world."

"Why?" Peter asked, shaking his head, "Why would it be unbalanced that way, and why a girl for me and boy for Olivia, why not the other way around?"

"Because if the course of destiny in both world hadn't been disrupted, you would have had a girl on the other side with their Olivia, and the Olivia from this world would have had a boy with John Scott."

"How do you know all this?" Peter demanded, a harsh edge o his voice at the mention of the other _her._

"_I know a lot of things Peter, things that you will never truly understand, but you must trust me-" Bell paused unnaturally and seconds later, Olivia's body fell to the floor._

"_Dr. Bell," Peter exclaimed, rushing to the body. He shook Olivia's body, trying to get her to wake up and a second later Olivia's eyes began to open, "Bell?"_

"_Peter," Olivia's normal voice asked drowsily._

_Peter quickly pulled Olivia to his chest, "Olivia… Its ok, its okay…"_


	2. Chapter 2

Peter stood in the doorway to Olivia's bedroom, watching as she pulled the covers back and climbed in, sitting cross-legged, looking at her hands in her lap. He pushed off the doorjamb and walked over taking one of her hands, "Hey, are you okay?"

She didn't look up at him, "I'm alright. My head hurts a little."

"Do you want me to get you an aspirin?" Peter asked, frowning with concern. Olivia shook her head, "Do you want me to go?" He asked, squeezing her hand tight.

"No, please don't," Olivia said without emotion. She finally looked up at him, "Stay."

One look into Olivia's eyes and there was no way he could resist her, not that he wanted to, "Ok," he whispered, leaning down and kissing her head.

He went into the bathroom and changed into a pair of sweats and a gray tee-shirt and came to sit on the other side of the bed, Olivia still sitting, unchanging, where he'd left her. "Can we talk about it," He asked tentatively, "If you don't want to, I'll understand, I'll just shut my mouth. Full disclosure unnecessary."

Olivia turned her head his direction, but wasn't actually looking at him, "What do you want to know?"

"How much do you remember?" Peter asked, almost afraid of the question. He could see through her hard outer shell and she looked so fragile.

"I remember hearing a bell ring… the bell from Bell's office, and the next thing you'r crouched over me and I'm on the floor in the lab.

Peter sighed and scooted over to sit next to Olivia on the bed, "Olivia, Bell told me something, something important while you were... out."

Olivia finally looked at him, "What?"

"Olivia..." Peter was hesitant to tell her now, afraid that she would be pissed that Bell had taken away her opportunity to tell him on her own, "Olivia, you're pregnant."

For a moment Olivia's face didn't change, then her whole expression broke. Her head fell against Peter's chest and cried.

The next morning Peter didn't move when he woke, just holding Olivia in his arms, her head still in his lap, his back against the headboard.

Olivia began to move, rolling onto her back to look up at him.

"Good morning," Peter whispered.

"Good morning," Olivia's voice was raspy.

Peter combed his fingers through her loose ponytail, "Are you okay Olivia?"

She nodded, "Yes, it's just another thing that was taken away from us... me telling you."

Peter smiled feebly, "Are you happy? We don't have to do this. We don't have to go through with it."

Olivia shook her head, "No, I want this. I want you and me, and this," Olivia placed her hand softly on her stomach.

"Okay," he said softly, leaning down to kiss her head.


End file.
